Lorraine Torrence Creative Clothing Class 2014 - #1 Repurposed Ready-to-Wear

I signed up for Lorraine's Creative Clothing Class at Gayfeather Fabrics again this year, as did most of my classmates from last year.  The first  assignment was to repurpose a piece of ready-to-wear.  My project for this go around was a long, black silk Dana Buchman vest I found at a consignment store for $20.  I decided to use some of the beautiful pieces of handprinted silk scraps that I had bought from Laura Goldstein, who has a business in Milwaukee called Grotta & Co.  She makes the most fabulous scarves and pillows from her fabrics (www.grottaco.com). 




Before

After

I first fused the silk pieces onto some fusi-knit interfacing and then sewed the pieces into strips which I basted onto the hem of the vest.  Then I used some black and white ribbon I got at Gayfeather Fabrics and topstitched it onto the top and bottom edges of the strip to finish it off.





























Using a grasshopper motif from one of the silk scraps, I made a patchwork square which I stitched on the upper back to add interest.

 

 

I had planned to change the button that came with the vest but decided the large mother-of-pearl button was perfect. 

Lorraine Torrence Creative Clothing Class #1 - Repurposed Ready-to-Wear

 

For those of us sewists lucky enough to be located in Madison, WI, we now have a great wearable artist/quilter in our midst.  Lorraine Torrence, formerly of Seattle, WA has relocated to Madison and is now teaching at Gayfeather Fabrics on Willy St. in Madison.  I am enrolled in one of her classes entitled Creative Clothing and am keeping track of the projects I have made for this session.  

 

Our first assignment was to repurpose a ready-to-wear garment.  I chose this black Flax brand linen jacket that had been hanging in my closet for far too long.   This jacket had many interesting design features which went unnoticed.

 

 

 

 

I chose to accent the lower pockets in the peplum with white linen fabric and added stacked buttons to the center front, alongside the front flange.  I didn't care for the collar so I constructed a new neckpiece over the old one and accented the sleeves and center back with more of the white linen fabric.

 

One thing Lorraine impressed upon us was to always put something in the back of the garment that

relates to the front to pull the design together.

Going Green

In the spirit of "going green" I decided to recycle one of my older garments - a jean jacket with a back piece of seminole patchwork made out of denim and ticking fabrics. Knowing all the work that went into it, I didn't want to just toss it into the recycling bin and every time I put it on my "fashion consultant" told me that "acid wash is out!" and "you look better in plain colors!" So--here is my jean jacket recycled into a purse. Amazingly I was able to use up most of the pieces in this handbag. It was like a jigsaw puzzle trying to fit things in here and there. So now I'm digging through my closet in search of other items....the yo yo vest...the slashed rayon jacket. Stay tuned for more!